As we poked our heads into one sumptuously appointed room after another at the newly renewed Forepaugh's, my friend summarized it best: "A lot of hot lunches went into dolling this place up."

That's because new owner Bruce Taher is the Taher in Taher Inc., the food-service management company that feeds schools, colleges, senior residences and corporations. The company jumped into the restaurant business in a big way during the past year, launching the Wayzata Eatery, the Alaska Eatery and Glacier Bar and the Nordeast Eatery.

And now Forepaugh's. Taher has given Joseph Forepaugh's ornate 1870 mansion what appears to be a spare-no-expenses once-over, its three floors of intimately scaled bars, lounges and dining rooms recast in romantic gold and reds and appointed with comfort-minded furniture. The basement boasts a wine storage area that doubles as a private dining room, and a second-story patio is downright magical, with downtown's towers poking over the treetops. Our server told us that Molly, the house's resident ghost and a former Forepaugh family servant, continues to haunt the Victorian manor.

Chef Donald Gonzalez, a Chambers Kitchen alum, manages to cover a lot of bases in his somewhat brief menu. Starters ($8 to $14) include battered-and-fried halibut, artichokes, plantains, eggplant and mushrooms finished in a lemon aioli; a smooth grilled corn soup and a bright cherry tomato soup; a stylish version of poutine, the French Canadian fries-cheese curds-gravy delicacy, and heirloom tomatoes artfully matched with mozzarella and a pungent olive tapenade.

Entrees ($21 to $38) feature a rack of lamb with polenta, beef Wellington and a trio of beautifully presented seafood dishes: slow-roasted salmon, succulent striped bass in a vibrant basil-garlic broth and moist halibut dressed in a mellow coconut curry. Pastry chef Carrie Summer's ingenious sweets ($8) include a deconstructivist riff on banana cream pie, an elegant and summery fruit soup and two luxurious variations on the chocolate theme. The too-short wine list could use some fleshing out, with 14 mostly-California choices, all sold by the glass (average price $12) and/or the bottle.

Here's the difference between the Westin and Doubletree hotel brands. When the former converted an iconic downtown Minneapolis banking lobby (Farmers and Mechanics Bank's 1940 Art Moderne eye-popper) into a restaurant, the results seamlessly respect the past and appeal to the present. If only the same could be said for the latter, restaurant Max at the new Hotel Minneapolis, which seems eager to downplay the enviably classic attributes of the 103-year-old Midland Bank.

The restaurant is operated by Morrissey Hospitality, the force behind the St. Paul Grill, Pazzaluna and Tria. Chef Matthew Holmes' dinner menu covers a lot of ground. Graze-friendly starters ($4 to $16) include mushrooms baked in puff pastry, plentifully topped flatbreads, pan-fried lemon-ricotta dumplings, saffron-scented mussel bisque, ham-and-cheese croquettes and a fig-pear-goat cheese combo on arugula.

Flavor-infused vodkas are the bar's specialty, and two dozen wines (stored in the former bank vault) are sold in four volumes, from a short tasting pour to the bottle. Desserts are dominated by nine quick tastes ($2.50) delicately spooned into juice-size glasses. It's a great idea, although I've seen it somewhere before. Oh, yeah -- at the Westin.